“A break away from the game may do him some good” – Pundit worried about wasted England talent

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Dele Alli’s latest attempt to revive his career saw him make the trip over to Turkey after a disappointing half-a season with Everton.

When coming through the ranks at MK Dons, Dele was regarded as one of the brightest young talents in English football, but towards the end of his Tottenham tenure, his career quickly went downhill.

A loan move to Everton raised the eyebrows of many football fans who were hoping Dele would be able to revive his career and show glimpses of the player he once was. Frank Lampard brought him to the club in the January transfer window of last season, but with Everton battling for relegation, Lampard rarely opted to use Dele.

After being sent on loan to Besiktas this summer, many would have expected a player so talented to be able to tear apart the Turkish league, but Besiktas’ manager doesn’t appear to be best pleased with his performances so far.

“Let’s not discuss Dele Alli as a player, but he is below expectations in terms of efficiency,” said Senol Gunes, as quoted by talkSPORT.

Former Premier League footballer Stan Collymore has revealed to CaughtOffside in an exclusive interview how he sees a lot of similarities between his career and Dele’s, and has offered a word of advice to the former Spurs midfielder.

“I see a lot of similarities between where Dele is right now and where I was at the end of my career. I moved from club to club to club before eventually retiring at the age of 30. I know Dele is still only 26 years old so I’m not saying he should retire, but a break away from the game may do him some good,” said Collymore.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to hear Dele turn around and announce his retirement any day now. At 26 years old, Dele should be in his absolute prime, with players sometimes opting to play in Turkey in the last few years of their career.

“I wrote another column about him recently and basically said ‘Dele, is it time to sit down with your friends and family and have an honest conversation about what you want to do?’ – Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know how he’s feeling, but before I retired I was physically and mentally shot and to me, Dele certainly looks tired and he’s obviously not enjoying playing football,” added Collymore.

Dele looks like a shadow of his former self – from the days of him representing England, hitting double figures in goals for Tottenham, to now seeing him being slammed by his coach at Besiktas.

“If he does happen to see this, I want him to know that I will gladly help him off the field to get him where he wants to be on it.

He’s got to break the cycle or he’s got to do something else for a living because he deserves to be happy and I worry he isn’t at the moment,” added Collymore, offering his hand to the former England international.

 

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